Abstract
We designed the present work to explore the connection between sarcopenia and interleukin-16 (IL-16) expression and their integrated relation with gastric cancer (GC) survival. We deemed the sex-specific third lumbar vertebra skeletal muscle index cutoffs for sarcopenia to be ≤40.8 and ≤34.9 cm2/m2 in male and female patients, respectively. Immunohistochemistry was carried out to detect IL-16 levels among GC tissues of the patients. We determined overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) by univariate and multivariate analyses. This study included 225 GC cases, with an average age of 62.7 years. There were 41 (18.2%) female patients, and 107 (47.5%) patients had sarcopenia. Sarcopenia and high IL-16 expression were identified as independent factors to predict OS (hazard ratios [HR] = 1.64 and 1.79, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.25–2.23 and 1.16–2.78, respectively) and RFS (HR = 1.43 and 1.60, 95% CI = 1.15–2.95 and 1.10–2.37, respectively). There were more cases showing high IL-16 expression detected in the sarcopenia group (55.7% vs. 37.3%, p = 0.003). Later, we grouped the patients with sarcopenia and IL-16 expression and discovered that the patients with sarcopenia and IL-16 upregulation displayed the poorest OS (HR = 3.02; 95% CI = 1.64–5.91) and RFS (HR = 2.34; 95% CI = 1.47–4.69). In conclusion, more IL-16 upregulation was noted in GC patients with sarcopenia. Sarcopenia accompanied by high IL-16 expression remarkably indicates a dismal prognosis in GC patients. This suggests that these biomarkers may be able to identify patients with GC with poor prognosis and enhance prognostication.
Highlights
Sarcopenia accompanied by high IL-16 expression remarkably indicates a dismal prognosis in gastric cancer (GC) patients
We discovered that IL-16 could independently predict overall survival (OS)
Sarcopenia and high IL-16 expression predicted the dismal prognosis of GC cases
Summary
Sarcopenia is a syndrome with low muscle quality and poor muscle strength that has been frequently seen during the natural aging process or additional health disorders, such as liver failure, liver cirrhosis, cancer, and cognitive disorder [2]. It is suggested that sarcopenia plays an increasingly critical role in cancer because poor muscle strength has been identified as the factor that predicts dismal cancer survival. Sarcopenia is frequently seen among GC patients, with a prevalence of over 7–57.4% in GC patients [3] It predicts the dismal survival of GC patients undergoing surgical resection [4]. Proinflammatory factors inducing anticancer systemic inflammatory responses have been related to additional muscle decomposition and sarcopenia [6]. The present work explored the relationship of sarcopenia and IL-16 with GC patient survival
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